One Woman’s Reminder to Not Succumb to “Summer Body” Pressure

If you’ve seen those videos floating around on social media to take a photo of yourself now, and then again six months from now, Jaimmy Koroma shared this amazing video in response. She says, “There’s nothing wrong with looking exactly the way you do now, six months from now.”

When asked about her inspiration behind posting this video, Koroma told POPSUGAR, “As soon as the new year rolls around, we are bombarded from January up until summer to change our bodies, to ‘get ready for summer,’ or that ‘this is the year you finally lose the weight.'” Koroma kept seeing these videos all over her feed about filming your body now and then again in the summer, and she shared that it just broke her heart because there were so many of those videos, from both men and women. “But what if your body doesn’t change? Will you not enjoy your summer? Are you not enough right now? I just had to try to put my video amongst the mix,” Koroma said.

Embracing her body wasn’t always easy for Koroma. “I wish I could say I have always had a positive outlook about my body but I definitely grew up seeing SlimFast in everyone’s fridge, and Jenny Craig during every commercial break.” She added, “Every summer since I was 13, I would try to lose weight so I could be pretty, and it did not happen. I wish I could tell that little girl that she was pretty, but that she was much more than that.” This turning point didn’t happen for her until about two to three years ago. She admits that if you scroll down long enough on her Instagram page, you’ll see when it was a weight-loss account, with pictures of food, and before and afters. “It’s taken a lot of unlearning and learning to get here,” Koroma shared.

For anyone struggling with thinking you need to change or shrink your bodies to “get ready for summer,” Koroma said, “You don’t. You don’t need to change your body in order to put on a pair of shorts, wear a bikini, or enjoy your life. Life is too short and has so much more to offer if you stop focusing on what you look like. It’s about adventure and making memories. And you, right now, you’re already ready!”

Koroma said she thinks a lot of people see her messages and interpret them as her saying “you don’t want people to improve,” and that she’s promoting unhealthy habits. But she said, “You can want to be healthier, stronger, faster, and have more energy without focusing on your physical appearance, and the numbers on the scale. I don’t weigh myself anymore. I just go to the gym and say, ‘wow! I did more push-ups than I did yesterday” and that’s enough.'”

In another recent post, Koroma said in the caption, “I saw a new stretch mark in the mirror yesterday and I winked at it. I’m just so happy in my skin these days — not to say I don’t still have bad days, but self-hate just has no business here anymore!” In the caption in the video above, Koroma said, “You better enjoy your summer body regardless! I’ll meet you at the beach!”